Ullswater Fellbounder - Motorised stretcher

Accession Number

Object Name

Created

Creator

Accession Date

Brief Description

Ullswater Fellbounder motorised mountain rescue stretcher. Red metal stretcher with mesh effect at either end, attached to four wheels and engine. Curved at front with motorcycle type steering handlebars with rubber grips and cables attached to brake and acceleration levers.

Materials

metal, rubber

Dimensions

260(l) x 60(w) x 90(h) cms.

Number Of Objects

1

Colour

red, black

Maker

Peter Bell

Object Production Place

Lake District, England

Object Production Date

circa 1970

Provenance

Brainchild of Sqn Ldr Lester Davies, pilot, mountaineer and mountain-rescue leader: born Wye, Kent on 8th August 1919; Warden, Outward Bound centre, Ullswater 1957-81; MBE 1979; Warden, Kinarut Outward Bound School, Borneo 1981-90; married Anne Pilbeam (two sons and one son deceased); died Eskdale, Cumbria 20th September 2003.In 1957, Davies left the RAF and gave up Himalyan expeditioning to join the Outward Bound School on the shores of Ullswater in the Lake District. It was the start of the most satisfying stage in a full life as he helped establish Outward Bound as the pre-eminent provider of challenging outdoor education in Britain.Davies was a personal acquaintance of Kurt Hahn, co-founder of Outward Bound, and a follower of his teaching of self-realisation and character building through adventure.Applying his inventive mind to the problem of getting injured people off the hills in the days before regular use of helicopters, he built a motorised stretcher - the "Ullswater Fellbounder". Anne Davies was its first test victim on a steady chug up Helvellyn.